Luxembourg passes landmark prostitution bill criminalising clients

A photo made available on 20 June 2014 of Indonesian sex workers hiding their faces behind newspapers at a brothel in city's red light district popularly known as Dolly, in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, 19 June 2014.

Luxembourg passes landmark prostitution bill criminalising clients

With a thin majority (32-to-28), Luxembourg moved on Wednesday to adopt a bill that criminalises the solicitation of prostitution services from prostitutes that are minors or “vulnerable individuals.”

In addition, the police is given the mandate to raid hotels, boarding houses, bars, dance clubs, and any venue they may suspect pimping or prostitution takes place.

Treating the prostitute as a victim, the landmark bill provides a wide scope of “vulnerability.” That includes mental illness or an illegal migrant status. If arrested, a client faces 1-to-5 years in prison in the case of a minor. In all other cases, the client faces eight days to six months in prison and a €251-to-€50,000 fine.

The law provides clients with a chance to evade jail if they testify against the trafficker.

Ultimately, the bill aims at traffickers, as criminal networks often recruit or force into sexual slavery women and children that have a profile of social vulnerability. Traffickers face a 3-5 years sentence and a €10,000-50,000 fine.